Michael Matthews was one of the fittest athletes in world cycling but has stopped training on medical advice for the time being. Photo: Green Edge Cycling.
Michael Matthew’s pulmonary embolism diagnosis, found while on an altitude training camp, has shocked many in the cycling community.
Michael, who won the Eschborn-Frankfurt one-day race in Germany last month, is regarded as one of the fittest athletes in world cycling.
The diagnosis of pulmonary embolism, which restricts blood flow, has resulted in the Canberra cyclist being ruled out of next month’s Tour de France.
As a precautionary measure, he has paused all physical activity until further notice.
Michael, who has won four stages in the Tour de France, indicated in a post on Instagram that he was optimistic despite his health condition.
“My condition is okay, and I will make a full recovery; it will just take some time.”
At 34 years of age, I wonder how many years he has left at this level, considering the average age of a Tour de France stage winner is around 28 years old.
It’s a challenging, gruelling sport, and Michael has proven his incredible ability to overcome setbacks. Look no further than 2023 when he emerged from a wheelchair after suffering numerous injuries to win stage three in the Giro.
Fellow Canberra athlete Patty Mills has also faced plenty of hurdles in a 16-year career in the NBA.
He had to overcome a shoulder injury before playing a key role in the San Antonio Spurs’ NBA Championship-winning year in 2014.
In the past season, the five-time Olympian has played with both the Jazz and the Clippers, averaging 11 minutes per game.
At 36 years of age, Patty is now a free agent, and there are doubts over his playing future after he signed to be the University of Hawaii’s Men’s Basketball General Manager.
There is also a campaign for him to return to Australia to complete his career in the NBL, similar to Andrew Bogut, Aron Baynes and Matthew Dellavedova.
Nick Kyrgios in 2019. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Nick Kyrgios, at one stage in his career, reached number 13 in the world and made the Wimbledon final in 2022 before going down to Novak Djokovic.
Injuries have cruelled his career, and it’s fair to say he won’t reach those heights again.
This year, he has only played four singles matches and pulled out of both the French Open doubles and the Wimbledon singles.
He has indicated that he will play no part in the grass court season in the UK.
In recent years, the 30-year-old has forged a different path through commentary, podcasts and part ownership of an NBL team.
Nick Kyrgios, Patty Mills and Michael Matthews have effectively been the big three in Canberra sport from a global perspective for the past decade.
In many respects, they have helped promote Canberra through their sporting prowess, but time has a habit of catching up with all sportspeople, even those who appear, or once appeared to be, invincible.
